Impsoyed horse-collar-stuf



' NA PETERS, PHOO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON D C @geiten .faire @anni @fitta team Paita: No. 79,997, daad .my 14,1868.,

IMPROVED HORSE-GOLLAR-STUFFING llIAGH-lliili.`

itinV Stthnlrrrftrnt in attese-itam atmt mit making anni attirante;

. W... 'ro ALL WHOM 1T MAY eoNcnRN; n

Be'it'lmown that I, S.V B. McCORKLE, of Greeneville, in the county of Greene, and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and improved Machine for Stuiiing Horse-Collars; 'and do hereby declare that the following 4is a full, clear, and exact description of theconstruction androperation of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, vmaking -a part of this specification, in whichl Figure l'is a. side elevation.

Figure 2-is .a plan. i l Theobject of this invention is to construct a machine which will place the straw in ,the collar in such a position that its elasticityiwill be preserved and utilized, thereby producing a better collar than any-heretofore made, whether by hand or machinery.

In manufacturing horse-collars, the' covering 'or envelope is first made, and-afterwards it is filled in with straw, which is thrust into it by means of a forked or notched plunger or remmer. The plungerI is shown in i the drawings at A, its terminal fork or notch,being-represented by a. The straw is seized near the middle-of the stalk b Vthe fork a,'. and, as it is thrust forward the movement of the plunger, it is doubled er bent back over the end'of the plunger into a V-form, the plunger still holding it at the angle. In this shape it is thrust inte the leather, collar; the angle of the Vcntering first, and the arms following. A'By this action, the straw is not brokenV at the angle to such adegree as to destroy its elasticity, bnt the ends spring apartwith considerable force. A layer ofstrawsbeing thus cleposited,"all their ends springing in the same direction, they form an elastic stuiiing, which expands the collar, pressing out its walls and giving it all the irmness and elasticity required. The first or extreme elndllayer being forced in, the ends of the straws prejssapart, offering a wedge'- `shaped opening for'the admission of' the next layer,and so on, till the collar is lled,each layer being wedged into the one next preceding it. The collar thus formed is compact, elastic, firm, and durable.

Inconstructinlg such collars,'the leather yenvelope or bag that is to hold thc straw lies npon a. table or platform, T, in a suitable bed, t. It being in the shape of a horse-collar, it necessarily lies on its side, that'- part which. is to press against the horses shoulder vand neck lying .uppermost or lowerniost, a/nd the opposite part, Vwhich receives and supports the haines, lying in thc'opposite position. 4For practical reasons, it has been found expedient that the side ofthe collar which yis .to press against the animals shoulder should b'e lowermos't,

and it' will, therefore, be in these 'speciiications described as the under side of the collar, the haines-side being described as the upper side oi` the collar, referring, by the use, of such terms, simply to the position of the collar onthe bedt, while it is subjected to the operation of stuffing. 4

' lhe collar lying in this position, and the doubled straw being forced into it in thc manner abovedescribed,

it follows that the collar will be elastic on two-sides, and on the other two inelastic;'for the elasticity depends on the i spring or elasticity of the doubled straw, und thc latter lying all in one position and direction,vits

elasticity will be imparted toonly twosides of the collar.v i

The diiicu'lty which this invention seeks to obviate lies `just here; In all machines hitherto constructed vfor the purpose, the straw'is placed in a rack, Il., directly across the machine, and the fork or plunger, in order'A nto catch the straws and force 'them along into the col]ar,`is obliged to holdits prongs in a vertical plane, one above the other.` It catches the straw in a horizontal position, doubles it in that position, and forces it forward,

its doubled ends projecting backward and outward from the end of the plunger, in the same horizontal plane with it. In that way the straws enter the collar and are packed into it, and, of course, after they are packed in, exert all their elastic force ina lateral direction. But upon an examination of the position of the collar while stuiiing, as above'describcd, this will be seen to be the wrong direction. The elasticity should be imparted to the collar in a vertical direction, as it lies `on the bed, or in thedirection of a linerfrom the hannes to the shoulder. It is designed to ease the pressure of the i hames against the horses neck, The elastic` cushion within the collar that direction. 4

must; therefore, press expansively in When thcmachine operates as above described, however, the straw is so packed into the collar that' its elasticity is wasted in a direction where there is no luse for it, and between the haines and shoulder it forms a hard,u'nyielding mass, that is disagreeable and injurious to the horse. y

This improved maehineobviates the difficulty above referred to, by causing the forked plunger, after catching the straws, to turn ninety degrees, or thereabouts, and thrust the straws'into the collar in sucha position that the pressure of their ends will be towards the hames a-nd shoulder, making 'the cellar elastic in that direc tion, and thereby greatly improving its construction. vln this respect, it is adecided improvement upon the machine patented by this inventor-,December 18, 1855, as well as uporl that patented by E. B. Miller,lllarch17, 186.8'.

Having thus ndescribed the nature ofthe dilliculty hitherto experienced in stufiiing horsecollars with straw, by means of machinery, and the manner in which propose 'to' entirely obviate that. difiiculty,'l will now pue eeed to describe, in detail, the construct/ion and operation of my improved machine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference thereon. i 'v I n thedrawings referred to, B B represent the frame, `1l. the hopper' or rack, containing the straw 'to be used, S the cylinder which moves the st raw dowinlso that-it can be caught and forced forward by the plunger;

A, the plunger; '.l, the`platform or table on which the collar lies, hinged to the frame B atb, so that it can swing laterally, provided with n. supporting-brace, '12', and a movable and adjustable clamp, 0, for holding one end Voi.-

thel collar, the other being held bya funnel, F, which, itself, is clamped in place by aspring-clamp, D, operated by a lever, d. '.lhe plunger is provided with a cross-head, Ewhich runs on slidebars,.G G.l Between the fthe samev horizontal plane,

slide-barsis a guide-bar, H, bent down Yand twisted at its rear end in vsuch a manner that an nrm,e, projecting from the side ofthe plunger A, and clasping the rod, is caused to turn down asfthe plunger approaches therear en d of its track, thereby rotating the plunger about one-quarter around on its longer axis.` The fork, A, on "theforward en'd ofthe plunger, is so arranged that, as the arm E runs down on l,the curved part of the guide-bar, the prongs of the fork assume a position' one over the other, in the same vertical plane, and in lthat position catch the straw from the roller whenA the plunger begins to move forward again; butlvhen the plunger has run so far forward that the arme leaves the bent part of rod H, in other words, just as the straw is approaching the open mouth ofthe collar, the plunger turns back on its axis, so as to bring the prongs of the fork in instead of the same vertical plane, and in that position carries the strarvinl'to the .collar and packs it there.-

It will be observed-that this entirely obviates the objection hereinabove set forth, disposinglthe layers of bent straw in such amanner in the'collar that their elastic force will be exerted towards the shoulder and the hames, as itoughtlto be.. i v 1 i The remaining parts of the machine are similar to those of the machines ,heretofore in use, consisting of a ratchet-wheel apparatiis,`I for moving the cylinders, a rod, J, for operting'the ratchet-wheel, and a crank, K, shaft, L, and bent lever, M, for receiving motion from the plunger or cross-head, and' imparting it to the rod J, and thereby to the cylinder. u l f v The whole apparatus. is exceedingly simple, convenient, and effective, completely obviating and removing the difculty complained of, andenabling me'tomalre, by machinery-n. horse-collar superior to anything ofthe kindheretofore produced, either by hand or machinery. v

Having thus described my invention, what I claim :is new, and'desire to secure by Letters Patent, is l 1. A. machine for stuing horse-collars, so constructed and operating that as the plunger enters the'eollars, its fork, a, will-have its prongs in a horizontal plane, for the purpose described.:

2. A machinefor st uiiing horse-collars, so constructed and operating that the plunger-partially rotates as 'it moves backend forth,`in order that its prongs, 21,'may li'e in a. vertical plane as it catches-the straw, and in a horizontal plane as it-delivers the straw into the collars, substantially as described.;

3.l The combination ofthe plunger'A, having the fork a,lwith the arm e, and'b'ent vguide-rod H, when` the several parts areeonstructed to'operat'e in the maprrer described.

'lo'tho above speciiication'of my inventionl have signed my hand, this 2d `d ayof June,`1` 86`81.

' s.v Bg -Mc'oonKLn Witnesses: GIE. Jonas, 'JOHN 'l. Banus. 

